Do you remember the TV show, “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” It ran on ABC from 1988 to 2007, and revived again in 2013. “In May 2024, the show was renewed for a twenty-first season. The show consists of a panel of four performers who create characters, scenes, and songs on the spot, in the style of short-form improvisation games. Topics for the games are based on either audience suggestions or predetermined prompts from the host, who would set up a game and situation that the performers would improvise.” (Wikipedia)
Hmmm, ok, but what’s the angle on the subject at hand? How does an improv show relate to whether I’m unemployed or unfulfilled? Great question! Here are some connection points (and I’m sure there are others):
- For our careers, there are no scripts. It’s all improv!
- Our careers have no rules or guidelines, and we can get prompts from everywhere.
- We are given opportunities to take our careers to pretty much any place we’d like to take them.
- We may be brilliant or we may flame out in our careers, just like improv!
- We are limited in our careers primarily by how we choose to approach it.
- Similar to the game show, we “own” the lines we choose to say and play.
Grounding Your Thoughts
Let’s now shift from a bit of a silly and arbitrary thought to something much more grounded. Yep, let’s take a look at Scripture! Proverbs 16:2-3 tells us:
“All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord.
Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans.”
In a recent YouVersion Bible App Guided Scripture video from CCV Music, the speaker shared this:
“Humans are satisfied with whatever looks good, but God probes for what is good.
What if we asked God,
- What do you want me to do?
- How do you want this to look?
- How should I respond to this person?
– And then we listen.
– And we seek Him.
– And then we move!
We can get so caught up in doing things for the Lord that we forget He has invited us to do all of these things WITH Him, not just for Him! Then let’s watch Him do more through us, then we could ever do on our own.”
With that said, wouldn’t we want to do that with our careers? And by the way, whose career is it anyway, really?!? Isn’t “our career” really HIS??
John 3:27 tells us: “…A person can only receive what is given them from heaven.”
So as I consider “my career,” I should be thanking Him for what He’s already given to me, and then asking my Master the questions posed above. Yet how many times have I made my plans, set them in motion, and then asked God to bless them? (Ruh roh!!) 🙁 Far too often!
If I were God, (good thing I’m not), I’d be much more “quid pro quo” than His amazing attributes given to us in the Scriptures. I’d be saying to man, “If you do this, then I’ll do that.” IF that were the case, then as a person unemployed or unfulfilled, I’d have to be wrestling with:
- Have I given Him my job? Yet I ask Him to bless it?
- Have I given Him my money? Yet I ask for more of it?
- Have I given Him my relationships? Yet I ask Him for better ones?
That list of questions and reflections could go on and on for me.
Let God Work Through You
It’s time to “give up” and ask him to do His work through us. Ephesians 2:10 states:
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 gives us further insight: “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”
The Apostle Paul instructs Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:21, “If a man therefore purge himself from these (sins), he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.”
We are all created uniquely and equipped by our Creator with a unique confluence of experiences, skills, abilities, and passions (Read more about this in our blog discussing Unique Distinctions HERE).
We should not be our “own,” but subject to our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. We should be asking for “Thy will be done,” not “my will be done.”
And when that happens…when “our” career becomes His!!! Then we can fully rest in His promises and allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us, for His glory and other’s good! Would you like to talk with someone about what you just read? Would you like some individual counsel with what you’re going through? Our Crossroads Guides are standing by and would love the opportunity to be of support and service to you. Click HERE now to schedule a free 45 minute consultation with one of our Guides.
Blessings!
Dave Sparkman currently serves as the volunteer Crossroads Career board chair and local ministry leader. He is also the founder and managing director of Spark Your Culture, a corporate culture consulting firm. Prior to that he worked at UnitedHealth Group, a Fortune #5 public company, serving in the role of Chief Culture Officer. His unemployment experience came from the implosion of Arthur Andersen, where he served as the West Region Managing Partner, People.
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